Page 142 of Loving Wild

Music is blaring through the sound system we had installed, and I watch as Gabe sets down his plate, pulls his phone from his pocket and obviously uses the controls he has installed on it to lower the volume around the pool so it’s quieter than the party that’s kicking off again up on the deck.

Moving to the edge of the pool, I lift Ruby out as Ryder holds her up to me and wrap her in a towel. Reef and Harry copy the older boys and pull themselves up and out at the side.

“You gonna have something to eat?” I ask Ruby.

“Is there sushi?” she asks with a frown.

“No, babe, just stuff from the barbie Dad cooked up. Looks like there are sausages, chops, burgers, and eggs, and there are some rolls there to put them in.”

“No sushi?”

“Rubes, did you not listen to what I just told you?”

“Yeah.” I watch as her hand goes to her hip the instant I set her on the ground. “But I just wanted . . .”

Gabe appears and hands her a burger in a roll.

“Thanks, Daddy,” she says with a smile. My mouth literally falls open as I straighten and look up at him.

I shake my head, not even bothering to ask how he gets her to do exactly as he likes when all she wants to do with me, is argue.

“You gonna eat?” Gabe asks me as he moves in and puts his mouth to mine.

“Yeah, I’m starved,” I tell him.

“You good?” he asks while leaning across to the table, putting a burger, some bacon, and an egg in a roll, then smothering it in HP Sauce before handing it to me.

“Thanks, yeah, I’m good. You doing okay? Looks like Finn stayed over.”

“She’s twenty-one, what can I do?”

“Nothing. I just meant that it looks like they’re getting serious.”

He nods but doesn’t say anything as he tucks into his own burger.

Ryder and Sonny help themselves to food and sit on the edge of the pool, their feet dangling in the water. Reef and Harry squeeze between them and do the same. Ruby and Rosie take up all the space on Dani’s lap as they tuck into their lunch. Steph, who’s heavily pregnant with her third baby, sits opposite while Jess, Sam, Zac and Coop take up the other seats, all chatting and talking over the sound of ‘Wonderwall’ being sung from the deck.

Gabe throws his arm over my shoulder, pulls me in and kisses my head.

“You okay with them kicking on? It’s Cup Day on Tuesday, remember, a lot of them won’t be working tomorrow. This thing could last three days.”

I shrug.

“As long as they behave. You got a problem talking about Ava and Finn?” The way he’d ignored my earlier comment hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Finn is Ava’s first serious boyfriend, there have been others, but she’s been with Finn for over five months now, and she’s told me they’re exclusive and talking about moving in together, which shocked me, as he’s younger than Ava by a couple of years.

Gabe looks down at me. My eyes trace the stubble covering his jaw, now no longer dark, but laced with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, which I just happen to love even more.

“It’d be easier if I didn’t know his dad.”

“I can understand that.”

Finn’s dad, Jack, is a mate of Gabe’s and has his own construction firm down here on the peninsula.

“He’s a good kid though.”

Again, Gabe says nothing, so I leave it at that, and we both sit silently watching Ava’s friends dancing and singing on the deck, and the rest of our family around the pool.